Maybe the foundation of childhood obesity lies in our fast food frenzy, but it's not just our children who are out of balance. Children learn to select foods from their parents. They learn to comfort themselves from their parents. They learn to reward themeselves from thier parents. We, the adults, are the role models that children study to learn about their world. Fast food is just one error we make when teaching children about food.Can you make a better choice today? Can you be a better role model today? The solution to any problem begins with ownership. How do you partcipate in the problem? What can you do differently today to move towards the solution?A simple choice to select healthier ways to nourish your body can be the start of a new journey towards your healthy, slender, and active body. Will you make that choice today?

Just can't get your head wrapped around your weight loss plan? Do you start and stop in your efforts to lose weight? Do your actions fall short of your intent? Do you know what you need to do but you just don't do it? It's not an uncommon thing to be out of sync with your intentions. But maybe it's because you are using the wrong part of your mind! Your power of will is in your conscious mind. The part of your mind that looks, listens, and learns. But your habits, emotions, patterns, and automatic behaviors are in your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind doesn't make decisions. It simply follows the patterns that you....or someone else, has programmed in there. So maybe your eating behaviors, your relationships with food and even your patterns of activity and exercise are no longer conscious choices, but simply old habits.So how do we change our mind? It's a systematic process. You can do it yourself if you know how. Or you can hire a hypnotist or health coach to assist you.The first step is to get rid of the negative thoughts! Make a list of all the things you don't want and don't like about your weight. Use imagery to let it go.Identify your obstacles. Those are the excuses you make or the reasons you give yourself for not losing weight.What's your motivation: who do you want to become?Install that image in your mind. Use meditation, visualization or simply activate that image every night as you are falling asleep. Do that for at least thirty nights.Make a plan. Does your plan need to include a food plan, an exercise plan, an hypnosis plan or a support plan? Do you need guidance or education? Do you need the support of a professional hypnotist or health coach? Make the plan as detailed as you can. Give your conscious mind a structure to work from.Activate your plan. That's right! Take action! Each day do at least three things that support your healthy weight. You might find that as you do three things, you automatically do more, becasue it feels good to take care of yourself. It feels good to be healthy, active and slender!So here's my challenge to you: I have a few pounds to lose, do you? Let's hold each other accountable. Write a comment and include your goal. Then report your progress along the way. Let's take these next few months to get healthier and feel great!I am happy to do individual consultation to help you get started on your journey to your best health!

I don't know about you but I can sure tell when my blood sugar starts to fall. First I notice a little bit of hunger, or maybe I don't notice until suddenly that feeling of hunger is overwhelming. Then one of two things happens next: I eat anything that's not nailed down or I become an irritable bundle of Grouch! Even if I can get past that and eventually eat an appropriate meal, my energy is shot for the rest of the day. This is one trigger to avoid if you are serious about your weight loss! Hypoglycemia – a fancy name for low blood sugar level. Hypoglycemia occurs when:

Your body's sugar (glucose) is used up too quickly

Glucose is released into the bloodstream too slowly

Too much insulin is released into the bloodstream

Although it is most common in people with diabetes, it can happen for healthy people from time to time as well, especially when there is big fluctuation in blood sugar level, or if a person hasn’t eating for a long period of time.

Skipping meals, not eating enough during meal, genetic tendency for low blood sugar and not compensating by adding extra meals or snacks can all contribute to hypoglycemia. High sugar foods or high glycemic foods can trigger an excessive insulin release, suddenly bottoming out blood sugar levels.

There are a few ways to alleviate mood issues caused by hypoglycemia:

Eat meals that are low in glycemic load: substitute refined grains with whole grains, include a generous amount of vegetables, and a moderate amount of protein and good fats which can slow down the absorption of carbs.To keep blood sugar level even, experiment with having 5 – 6 small meals or snacks a day, instead of 3 big meals. Add protein to every meal or snack. Avoid ,as much as possible, all processed foods, and anything that contains sugar and refined carbohydrates.You can avoid this trigger by taking charge of your food plan and your health! Weight loss and maintaining your ideal weight comes down to the choices you make to fuel your healthy, active, and slender body!

Did summer mean a few added pounds and a little less attention to your weight loss plan? Summer is nearly over. Did it bring all of the potential weight gain slips that vacations, busy schedules, and changes in your routine can bring? Not to mention the summer parties and neighborhood barbeques!

Take a few moments to think about your busy lifestyle and stay in charge of your food choices. After all, you want more energy for your all of your activites, right?Avoiding refined sugar is one of the best ways to minimize blood sugar spikes and crashes, which cause a drastic change in energy level. The most effective way to get off sugar is to get to the root cause of your sugar cravings. Here are a few strategies:1. Eat sweet vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, corn, winter squash, sweet potatoes and onion to satisfy our body’s need for sweet taste (which is normal)2. Eat meals with low glycemic load to avoid fluctuation in energy and blood sugar level. When we crash, we reach for sugar for quick fixes. Combine whole grains and vegetables (high fiber foods) with a moderate amount of good fats and lean protein.3. Stay hydrated – thirst is sometimes mistaken as hunger, which leads to cravings.4. Investigate sugar cravings as a result of nutrient deficiency – e.g. chromium and tryptophan.5. Nourish your soul – some people crave sweets out of boredom or loneliness.Just released: Hypnotic Fat BanTM puts you in charge of your weight loss success! Want help to diminish your cravings and gain control of your food choices? Use the power of your own mind through hypnosis and take charge of your health! Ask for more information now!

Even during the wonderful months of summer, we can get overwhelmed with life's demands. Does it sometimes feel like going on vacation is more stressful than your every day life? The week before leaving on vacation and the week after returning from vacation often undo the quiet relaxation of the vacation itself.

Do you find yourself coming back to your work and your usual routine feeling jangled and on edge? Is that first week back fraught with overwhelm and exhaustion?Taking care of your nervous system can help you restore and replenish your energy, stay focused without the caffeine jitter, and feel calm and relaxed so that you can get the rest you need when you need it.Here are 4 approaches to help care for your nervous system for increased energy:1. Strengthen the nervous system with herbs such as burdock, dandelion, gingko, nettle, oaks and Siberian ginseng.2. Encourage calm and relaxation with chamomile, valerian, lemon balm and oats.3. Explore coffee alternatives such as Yerba Mate, green tea, black tea, or Rooibos (African Red Bush) to avoid the caffeine jitter.4. Calcium has a soothing effect on the nervous system. Eat calcium-rich food for dinner (e.g. leafy greens, bone broth). If you take a calcium supplement, take it with dinner. An alternative is to use a soluble calcium packet in your water and make sure you are fully hydrated with 60-80 ounces of water in your day.A little self care can make all the difference in your abiltiy to cope with stressors and bounce back from challenges.

It's that time of year when we look back on where we've been. We measure our own progress towards the goals we want to achieve. Or maybe we didn't have a goal, or it was too vague to measure. We just know that we want to make some change in the coming months or year. Part of this process is looking at what we don't want. What are you movig away from? Do you want to lose weight this year? Why? What don't you like about your current weight? Do you want to stop smoking this year? Why? What is it that smoking has done to your health? Maybe it's another life change that you want to make: a healthy relationship, more satisfying work, to fulfill adream. No matter. As you look back at the past year what is it that you want to let go of? To truly move forward with a goal, we must know where we've been and what we want to move away from. Only then can we begin to form a clear picture of what we want to create in our future. What we truly want for ourselves. When we know what we don't want it is easier to define what we do want. The list of negatives can easily be transferred to a list of positives. By defining what hasn't worked for you you can eliminate many distractions. You can focus on the path that leads you to success.

Mary Beth Lodge

Life Coach, Hypnotist, Alternative Health Consultant, assisting others to improve their lives and their health. Life coaching in areas of weight loss and smoking cessation, health and wellness, financial freedom, business relationships.